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I don't know enough people with open statues to really have a way to know. Just seems to me that if some Joe Shmoe tried to summon me (or part of me) to a statue, and I knew they weren't ready (or were just ignorant) that I would tell him/her to eff off. But as I said, I don't know enough about it to really be able to say for certain.

A note: the Opening of the Mouth is not a summoning ritual. I'm not actually sure how to describe what it is, so I'll try to explain by noting its two other major ritual purposes that I know of.

One: the Opening of the Mouth is part of the funerary ritual, for preparing the mummy. Theologically speaking, a mummy is basically a statue of the dead person (there are texts that basically refer to literal statues and the mummified corpse in identical terms, or interchangeably). It's a closed-up body. A living body is an open body: its mouth is open, its eyes are open, its nose can breathe, its ears can receive understanding. Thus, the Opening of the Mouth is performed on the mummy and any additional funerary statues before entombment.

Obviously, the dead person isn't popping into that body and taking it for a walk, and hanging out in it to, what, read the inside of the coffin lid, that's gonna get boring after a while. But by the parallelisms that are so common in magical practice, the body is again made useful. The vessel can carry the ka rather than either entrapping or refusing the ka, and thus it becomes a sort of doorway between. It is brought into an association with its souls by this ritual, restoring the continuity that was broken at death.

(Help help I'm regurgitating chunks of an Assmann book.)

Two: part of the dedication of a temple is performing the OPening ritual on the temple's walls. This is how one sanctifies that sort of space. A sanctified temple was also frequently referred to as the body of the god, as well as a map of the cosmos in microcosm and across time.

So this is how I would look at it: a non-open statue is a representation of the god that the god can choose to inhabit or not at will, much like a god may choose to inhabit an animal, a plant, a natural phenomenon, or make a trance possession. It is associated with the god by its appearance and the rituals that are performed involving it, of course.

An opened statue is like a funerary statue or properly prepared mummy, brought into intimate relationship with its souls; it is a doorway to the entity it represents. Even if the entity is not turning active attention that way, it is like any other soul, linked to that entity and a part of its constellation of relationships. I am not currently doing anything with the fourth toe on my right foot, and in fact it rarely comes to my attention, but it is still part of me; such with an open statue.

An opened statue is also sanctified and, again, made part of the body of the god. The god is not summoned into it by any means, but holiness is like a gas, it will expand to fill all space that it is provided.

A note: the Opening of the Mouth is not a summoning ritual. I'm not actually sure how to describe what it is, so I'll try to explain by noting its two other major ritual purposes that I know of.

One: the Opening of the Mouth is part of the funerary ritual, for preparing the mummy. Theologically speaking, a mummy is basically a statue of the dead person (there are texts that basically refer to literal statues and the mummified corpse in identical terms, or interchangeably). It's a closed-up body. A living body is an open body: its mouth is open, its eyes are open, its nose can breathe, its ears can receive understanding. Thus, the Opening of the Mouth is performed on the mummy and any additional funerary statues before entombment.

Obviously, the dead person isn't popping into that body and taking it for a walk, and hanging out in it to, what, read the inside of the coffin lid, that's gonna get boring after a while. But by the parallelisms that are so common in magical practice, the body is again made useful. The vessel can carry the ka rather than either entrapping or refusing the ka, and thus it becomes a sort of doorway between. It is brought into an association with its souls by this ritual, restoring the continuity that was broken at death.

(Help help I'm regurgitating chunks of an Assmann book.)

Two: part of the dedication of a temple is performing the OPening ritual on the temple's walls. This is how one sanctifies that sort of space. A sanctified temple was also frequently referred to as the body of the god, as well as a map of the cosmos in microcosm and across time.

So this is how I would look at it: a non-open statue is a representation of the god that the god can choose to inhabit or not at will, much like a god may choose to inhabit an animal, a plant, a natural phenomenon, or make a trance possession. It is associated with the god by its appearance and the rituals that are performed involving it, of course.

An opened statue is like a funerary statue or properly prepared mummy, brought into intimate relationship with its souls; it is a doorway to the entity it represents. Even if the entity is not turning active attention that way, it is like any other soul, linked to that entity and a part of its constellation of relationships. I am not currently doing anything with the fourth toe on my right foot, and in fact it rarely comes to my attention, but it is still part of me; such with an open statue.

An opened statue is also sanctified and, again, made part of the body of the god. The god is not summoned into it by any means, but holiness is like a gas, it will expand to fill all space that it is provided.

So that's how I perceive it.

I'm suddenly having a complete meltdown into the persona of Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel after having read this. All I can say is, "u so s-m-r-t. i's jealous. hurr, hurr."

An opened statue is like a funerary statue or properly prepared mummy, brought into intimate relationship with its souls; it is a doorway to the entity it represents. Even if the entity is not turning active attention that way, it is like any other soul, linked to that entity and a part of its constellation of relationships. I am not currently doing anything with the fourth toe on my right foot, and in fact it rarely comes to my attention, but it is still part of me; such with an open statue.

Thank you so much for your write-up on this, it is wonderfully explained and it definitelly made something click for me. I had always been extremely curious about what an open statue would 'feel' like, since I'm somewhat of a blockhead when it comes to stuff like that. But with your explanation I realize I already have one and that I CAN tell the difference between it and a non-opened representation. Thank you very much, you've given me a gift in a way.

Thank you so much for your write-up on this, it is wonderfully explained and it definitelly made something click for me. I had always been extremely curious about what an open statue would 'feel' like, since I'm somewhat of a blockhead when it comes to stuff like that. But with your explanation I realize I already have one and that I CAN tell the difference between it and a non-opened representation. Thank you very much, you've given me a gift in a way.

Related to this, does anybody have more information or insight about statues which have become opened through means other than a priest/worshipper actually performing the Opening of the Mouth ceremony? Such as if an already opened statue came to be in your possession without your immediate awareness of it or if the deity chose to open it themselves?

Related to this, does anybody have more information or insight about statues which have become opened through means other than a priest/worshipper actually performing the Opening of the Mouth ceremony? Such as if an already opened statue came to be in your possession without your immediate awareness of it or if the deity chose to open it themselves?

Related to this, does anybody have more information or insight about statues which have become opened through means other than a priest/worshipper actually performing the Opening of the Mouth ceremony? Such as if an already opened statue came to be in your possession without your immediate awareness of it or if the deity chose to open it themselves?

I vaguely remember someone talking about this here on TC, and the possibility of a deity opening the statue themselves. I too have wondered what this would feel like, or be like. And what type of responsibilities you'd then be held to if the deity decided to open the statue. I've also wondered if there is more than one way to open a statue.

My UPG is that the Gods do use our statues even if we don't open them. I've heard people say statues will seem very alive, and that the God appears to be "looking at them" through the eyes of that statue. I've had that experience plenty of times. That doesn't necessarily mean that a statue is spontaneously opened. That would imply that the presence of the Gods in the statue is a permanent thing. That probably happens quite rarely but I do believe it is possible.

Related to this, does anybody have more information or insight about statues which have become opened through means other than a priest/worshipper actually performing the Opening of the Mouth ceremony? Such as if an already opened statue came to be in your possession without your immediate awareness of it or if the deity chose to open it themselves?

First, some background info. I am very sensitive to energies, so much so that standing in circles with Wiccan friends can make me ill and dizzy, because of all the swirling around of energy. The energies feel like a physical pressure to the forehead; a lot of people think this is "psychic" but it is not, and is only a sensitivity to electromagnetic energies since being around sources of electromagnetism such as exposed wires generates the same sensation; since entities are thought to be made of electromagnetic energies, I can feel them much as I can the energy from TV screens and such. Sometimes these energies are not only felt but also visible as what I can only describe as "distortions" in the air, somewhat like how heat rising from hot asphalt on a summer day makes wavy lines, but not exactly. Other times it is shadows, or balls or ribbons of light.

I have never opened a statue, but often when walking by a shrine, there will be an energy radiating from the statue. Sometimes I feel them emerge from the icon/statue, and it is weird. First, the image "glows" and a stream of energy projects itself into a solid form, as if the god stepped out of the statue/icon and into the room, as if the image were a gateway. Sometimes this is accompanied by a change of air temperature and pressure in the room as well, and buzzing/rushing noises.

One of the strangest experiences involved a time I was living in an RV after the loss of a job and it became infested with fire ants so that I could not sleep in it. A friend offered to let me sleep in his guest room for a few days until the fire ants could be exterminated. I brought some of my valuables in boxes and piled them up in one corner. One of the boxes contained statuary. A few hours later, I could feel an energy in the room. There were not any electronic devices in the room, so I walking around trying to figure out what it was. It was coming from a box, and I opened it and dug through its contents. It was a statue of Anpu. Poor god, trying to watch/come through and he's wrapped in newspaper in a box.

Unfortunately I'm about as dense as can be when it comes to sensing energy, so I definitely don't experience anything like that! I'm coming to learn that I need to pay more attention on a much more subtle level and give more credit to the little 'impressions' I get and other such intuitive feelings because thats about as loud as it gets for me. Sometimes it'd be nice to feel something a bit more tangible than that, although I'm sure it must be its own burden to be that sensitive.